Johns Hopkins research found that it is possible that wider availability of medical marijuana for people who are dealing with pain might help reduce the growing number of overdose deaths attributed to pain killers.

Opiate overdose deaths were responsible for almost 17,000 deaths in the United States in 2011. Prescription painkillers have become the leading cause of deaths in adults the U.S.

Marijuana has become a replacement for painkillers in states with medical marijuana laws.

There is still concern on whether broader availability of marijuana would cause wider addiction to the drug in the state, explains Colleen Barry, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins.